Schwanengesang, D957 Part 1
Schwanengesang, D957 Part 2
Die Taubenpost, D965a 'Ich hab’ eine Brieftaub in meinem Sold'
Herbst, D945 'Es rauschen die Winde'
Der Winterabend, D938 'Es ist so still, so heimlich um mich'

The Dutch bass-baritone Robert Holl is one of the great Lieder singers of our time. A recent review of a recital from The Times illustrates his extroardinary technique and mesmerising power: ’Dutch baritone Robert Holl delivered a Schubert programme with such natural force and passion that resistance was impossible … Holl’s huge presence, and huge, dark voice can transform itself at will into the lightest breath of spring, rising into a hushed head-voice with total ease, or fining itself down to recreate the vision of a wakeful gondolier and a sleeping Serenissima.’

In Holl’s first recording for Hyperion, he brings his tremendous artistry to Schubert’s last song-cycle.

The songs in Schwanengesang were described by Schubert’s publisher Haslinger as ‘the final blooms of Schubert’s creative muse’. Schwanengesang contains some of Schubert’s greatest works. It tells no particular story, but the two sets of songs are linked by their poetic themes nature, love and separation in the case of the settings of Rellstab, bitterness, loss and despair in the case of Heine.

This recording includes two further songs. The first, Herbst, though also to a text by by Rellstab, did not appear in Schwanengesang, and the manuscript was not discovered until the 1890s. A highly atmospheric nature-piece, its texture anticipates Mendelssohn’s songs on a similar theme, with its tremolando right hand and sinuous, fateful left-hand melody. The other extra is Der Winterabend from 1828. The poem by Leitner creates the image of a contented man, contemplating not just the winter evening, but by implication also his approaching death (the silvery moonlight is a symbolic pall cast over the objects of his life). In his extensive booklet notes, Roger Vignoles writes that ‘If one wants to know how Schubert felt about his own mortality, it is worth noting the loving care he bestowed on this song. Every turn of phrase, every modulation is perfectly judged, as in the hushed sidestep (through a major third, his favourite interval) that announces the entry of the moonlight into the poet’s chamber’.



'Holl feels and communicates superbly and can be awesomely delicate. In this recital of songs from Schubert's last year, the stark Heine settings emerge with heart-wrenching power' (The Times)

'Robert Holl has established a top career … He has a penetrating, powerful voice and a direct, unsentimental approach … There's some lively accompanying from Vignoles' (Classic FM Magazine)

'Holl has his ample voice under superb control … His enunciation is exemplary. The piano parts - they are far more than just 'accompaniments' - are beautifully judged by Vignoles, who has the measure of each of the songs in turn. He is the master of delicate dynamic shadings and full-blooded climaxes, skilfully creating armosphere … Singer and pianist are as one … As usual with Hyperion, one can count on fine, well-balanced and spacious recorded sound. Likewise the booklet and its contents are excellent, with a long, detailed and sensitive essay by Vignoles on the individual songs' (International Record Review)

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Recording details: January 2008; All Saints, Durham Road, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom; Produced by Mark Brown; Engineered by Julian Millard; Release date: October 2008;